Key to the Heart
by ballerinagurl222
Summary: Max Is the new girl in her senior year of high school. But she has a secret. Her father has been abusing her for over month. Fang is the popular guy, he has a secret too. He loves her. What will happen when she confesses her deepest secrets to him? FAX!
1. Chapter 1

**This starts really sad, but keep reading, it will get much better. it's my first fanfic. Enjoy! max POV**

**Disclaimer: I don'y own MR. In my dreams!**

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I knew that I was going to die. In fact, I had been waiting for this day for weeks by then. Ever since Jed divorced my mom, Valencia Martinez, and moved from Arizona all the way here to Atlanta, leaving my sister Ella with my mom, things had been, well, different. Jeb had been abusing me, badly. I was constantly covered in bruises and cuts, and was almost always in pain. Every time I stepped a toe out of line, or he just got drunk, he would beat me up like a teenage boy with anger issues. He would attack me with belts, his fists, or just about anything he could get his hands on.

Tonight though, I had really done it. Well, according to Jeb, anyways. For any normal teenager, staying out until two was normal, not a problem. But Jeb would consider it the worst thing I had ever done. He had the capability to kill me; there was no doubt about it. The question was, was he really that lacking in heart? I mean, I was his daughter, the result of his love for my mother that didn't exist anymore.

But now it was time to see if he really loved me. As a human being, and as his child-well, I'm seventeen, but still the closest to a child he has. Tomorrow, I would start my senior year of high school, and who knew, I might not show up.

Panting, I arrived at my lousy excuse for a house (Oh, did I mention I've been running home this whole time). It was grey, run-down, and more of a shack than anything else. It had two bedrooms-one real bedroom, and one closet with a mattress on the floor and a small rack of clothes on the wall- one bathroom, and one kitchen. I knew Jeb would be waiting in his bedroom, but as soon as he heard me, I would be screaming on the kitchen floor.

This time I probably wouldn't be screaming, because I might not be able to do anything at all, except lay there, motionless.

At the time, I actually wasn't that afraid to die. It would just put an end to my already miserable life; a life in which I was allowed no freedom, no fun, only pain. I didn't think I could wait another month, when I would be eighteen, and he wouldn't have legal control over me anymore.

So I tried to put a brave look on my face, and slipped through the front door, which, as always, had been left unlocked. It was pitch dark inside, as per usual; Jeb never paid the electric bill. I tried my best to make it to my room unnoticed, but of course, there were beer bottles of the floor, and of course, I had to trip over one, sending it rolling loudly over the rough wooden floor.

Hurriedly, I scrambled to my feet in tine to see Jeb stomping towards me, loudly. His drunken footsteps were wobbly, and off balance.

"MAX" he yelled, but was slow, and slurred. He continued to stumble toward me, until he was inches away. "Where have you been, Maxy? I'm sure you know what's going to happen now." He whispered in my ear, his rotten breath enveloping my face. I coughed, and it all started. He whacked me upside the head, and I could feel the rush of blood to my neck. Then came a rough blow to my ribs, knocking the wind out of me.

Unable to breath, I sank to the floor. Where I was punched, and kicked, past the point of screaming. Silent tears streamed down my face. I expected the world to disappear any moment, but it didn't, Jeb walked away, leaving me there on the floor. I heard the front door open, and the car engine roar, and he drove away.

He would be back, I knew that he would, but it could be up to a week or so. Completely worn out, I dragged myself to my bed- or mattress on the floor- and collapsed onto it.

The clock on my wall read 3:15 am. In exactly three hours, I would wake up for my first day at a high school I didn't even know the name of. I would just call it dread high school.

That night I dreamed of happiness, and all of the other things I could never have. It was my personal heck, and I couldn't escape. Well, except once a week. At church, but I'll get back to that later.

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**Hope you liked it. Hope it wasn't too depressing. I won't post the next chapter until I get at least one review, so R&R! **


	2. Chapter 2

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Thanks for the reviews Guys! i'm glad you like it. Next chapter is Fang POV. Ya'll will love it(and yes i did say ya'll)

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_Beep! Beep! Bee-_

After several tries, I managed to hit my alarm clock in the right place to make it stop screeching. I really hated that thing sometimes. Groaning to myself, I rose to my feet. Darn you, dread high school, for starting at 7:15 in the freaking morning.

I took a cold shower- no hot water, go figure- brushed my teeth, and approached the small rack of clothes that was my closet. It was already sunny outside, so I should have worn shorts and a tank-top or something, but I was covered in bruises. I grabbed my thinnest sweatpants, a black t-shirt, and a black hoodie to cover myself up. I would be miserable outside, but I had no other choice.

On the way out the door, I slipped on my flip flops, and grabbed a slice of slightly stale bread- it was the only thing in the pantry.

The walk to school was long, and lonely. I walked in, and went directly to my locker, and then to my homeroom to wait for the bell to ring, when I sensed someone watching me. I looked around and saw a mysterious looking at me. He wore all black clothes, had long, jet black hair, and beautiful dark eyes. He was the most handsome person I had ever seen.

Then, a guy with scraggly, strawberry blonde hair walked up to him and said," Hey Fang."

Fang. An interesting name, but I liked it. It suited him.

Some more people approached him: a girl with curly, blonde hair; another girl with mocha skin, and slightly darker curls, and a boy with dirty blonde hair that looked a lot like the blonde girl. They must be siblings, I thought.

They seemed so happy. Well, happier than me anyways. They had things to look forward to, things they were excited about. My life was empty, and had no idea how to fill it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, this is where the FAX begins. **

**I just thought this would be amusing for ya'll, but I'm having a really hard time not typing my chapters with southern lingo, and capitalizing my I's. Luckily, word does that for me, so hahaha!**

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Most people get the impression that being popular is the like living the dream life, that you have everything. But I, being on the popular side myself, can assure you that that is most definitely not true. I have good friends, but about as far as the good goes. Every guy wants to be your friend; every girl wants to be your girlfriend. It gets overwhelming. Everyone expects something from you, but you just can't give it to them. I'm not going to go into all of the boring details; I'm just going to skip to the point.

I saw a new girl at school. She was in every single one of my classes, and in every single one, she sat in the back corner. I only ever heard her speak when the teacher called role, and she said "here" softly. She never raised her hand to ask a question, or to answer a question. She just sat there with her head down.

Throughout the week, she did the same thing every day. Then things got interesting. It was on Thursday, after lunch, when I was walking down a hall to a water fountain when I saw her sitting against the wall, apparently studying, but I didn't buy it.

As I approached her, she glanced up at me, a shy look on her beautiful face. "Hi." I greeted her. "Max, isn't it?" She nodded her head in reply. "What are you doing out here? Why aren't you at lunch?"

"I ask you the same question," she replied more boldly.

"I was simply in search of a water fountain when I saw you sitting here and decided to say hi. Oh, I know. Why don't we go back to the cafeteria, and you sit me and my friends."

"I, uh…" She seemed kind of embarrassed." Don't have a lunch… or lunch money."

"Consider it on me today." I handed her a five dollar bill. She stared at it like it was a hundred. "Come on," I coaxed her, "You can pay me back if you want to. She nodded, and I put my arm around her shoulders and walked with her back to the cafeteria. I never found my water fountain, but oh well. I met my hopefully future girlfriend.

Back at my lunch table, I introduced Max to My friends Iggy, Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy. She didn't talk much; she mainly just listened to us jabber on and on about nothing really, when after about ten minutes Nudge decided to branch out a little bit.

"Max, you should totally come with us to hang out at Fang's house tomorrow night. Shouldn't she Fang?" She gave me a look that said I really didn't have a choice, that Max would be coming whether I wanted her to or not. But I wanted her to, so it was cool.

"Oh, uh, sure she should come," I replied, slightly taken by surprise. This would be pretty interesting.

After lunch, in sixth period, I decided to sit next to Max for biology, which meant sharing a lab table.

"Alright students, I hope you chose a good seat this morning, because whoever you are sitting next to right now will be your lab partner for the rest of the year."

I swear I saw Max smile when she heard that. I was beaming. I elbowed her playfully. She winced, but then quickly tried to cover it up by smiling. Huh, that was strange. I hadn't hit her hard at all.

My realization was interrupted by Mrs. Hart. "Fang, I would appreciate it if you would stop flirting with Max. This is biology, not chemistry, which I believe you aren't doing too well in."

I usually love teachers with a sense of sarcasm, but their sarcasm gas never been pointed directly at me before. Max Stared at her lap, her face tomato red. Several of the other kids laughed, and I heard a few _burns_. I apologized to Mrs. Hart, and to Max, for embarrassing her. She said it was okay, and she almost laughed. I had never seen her laugh. Sometimes, she is even quieter than me, and that's saying something. When the final bell rang, I gave Max a hug, which startled her, and told her I would see her tomorrow.

Max POV

I didn't want to go home that day, but I had no choice. So I made the long, lonely walk one more, only to find that Jeb had returned. His car was back in the driveway, with a new dent in the passenger door. Quietly, I sat down at the kitchen table to do my homework, but just as I was unzipping my backpack, Jeb stalked out of his room.

"So Maximum, I see you have survived without me." He taunted, using my full name, as he hardly ever did, because he could hardly ever remember it. "Well, I think life has been a bit too… easy for you without me here," Great, and some of my bruises had just started to heal. As usual, it started with a powerful blow t my head, then my chest, but this time, I hit him back. That's right. I punched him in the nose, adding yet another stain do his dirty shirt. "I've had enough of you, Maximum," he snarled at me, and my world went black.

I didn't remember dragging myself to bed that night. I just know that that is where I woke up, to my alarm cl**ock**

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Hope you enjoyed. R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I have some notes to my people who reviewed. First of all, thanks to random1ness, soccergirl22, apachemountaindancer, ihatepeople0416, river-fiona-barrels-me, empressofsarcasm, and U2Kitty for the complements/encouragement.**

**peanutbuttermonster, no it's not one of those emo stories**

**nathan-p, well, i have a lot to say to you.**

**1 in this story, they are all in twelth grade, no duh**

**2 you are very aggressive in trying to get your point across, i saw your first review just fine**

**3 Have some patience in that aggressive heart. "A story has to unfold itself. The mystery is part of the magic that makes the story good."**

** and to all of you, i copywrite that quote. i think its pretty darn good for me coming up with it right on the spot.**

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I strained to open my eyes. For a moment, everything was fuzzy, and unclear. I was sore, and stiff all over. When I sat up, I was struck by a head rush, even though I had gotten up pretty slow- I couldn't have gone fast if I wanted to anyways.

Then a stream of memories came flooding through my head like an avalanche. I remembered school, Jeb, Fang, and… Jeb's past. I was having trouble holding it all in anymore. Someone needed to know how Jeb was treating me and why. Who? You ask. To which I reply, I have absolutely no idea, or at least at that moment I didn't.

Then something else hit me. It was more of a realization this time. I was going to Fangs house tonight. I had no idea where it was, and absolutely no idea how to get there. Not to mention that I didn't exactly have anything to wear either.

Slowly, I dragged myself to a hunched over standing position, and slowly wobbled to the bathroom.

I was a mess. That was the first thing I noticed. I somehow managed to work a brush through my hair long enough that it looked like I actually hadn't gotten beaten up, washed the blood off of my face, and brushed my teeth. I slipped on a clean pair of jeans and, t-shirt, and hoodie to hide my new bruises, which were big and purple by the way, and my flip-flops.

There was no food in the broken refrigerator, so I walked to school hungry.

In homeroom, I was on my way to my usual corner seat, when I heard Nudge cal my name.

"Max! Come sit with us!"She beckoned to the rest of the people gathered around Fangs desk. Hanging my head low, I trudged over and uttered a barely audible "Hi." Which was returned with "Wasup's" and "How's it goin's."I said nothing else and noticed Fang was watching me, a concerned look on his face. I gave him a look that I hope said _I'll talk to you later._ He nodded in reply.

Our telepathic little conversation was interrupted when Angel piped up," Hey Max, are you still no for tonight?"

"Oh, yeah. Why?" I replied, sounding nervous.

"Nothing, I was just wondering." Fang shot her a look that said _what the heck do you think you're doing? _She shrugged her shoulders.

This was starting to get sort of weird, like I was only hearing half of the conversation. Thankfully, the bell rang just then, so I had an excuse to leave. Fang followed me, since he was going to the same class. In math, first period, I sat at my usual corner seat, but fang sat next to me, and before the teacher had even started talking, he had pulled out a clean sheet of paper and started scribbling, furiously. After about a minute, he handed the paper to me secretively.

I unfolded it carefully, and began to read.

_Whats wrong with u 2day? You've been quiet, and secretive. You're hiding something Max. If its similar to what I think it is, than ive been is ur situation b4, and I no its not fun, but u hav 2 tell some1._

I replied

_I'll talk 2 u about this later, k? Theres no1 else I trust right now._

I passed the note back to him. He read it and nodded. I would tell him tonight. I would tell him everything, because he was right. I had to let someone know, so it might as well be him.

The rest of the day went slow as heck. I was a nervous wreck. It only got worse in second period, when Angel came up to me.

"I know your secret. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but you can trust us. Never doubt that.

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**Thanks for reading! R&R! no more updates untill i get reviews from at least 5 different people. thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, i would have updated sooner, but i was out riding 1000 foot ziplines. u no ur jelous(srry 4 the txt ling, im in a hurry.) so, enjoy this chapter, and nathan-p, u better be sastified with the answers i provided to all of your questions about jeb.**

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So I was walking out of second period history when I saw Angel say something to Max. Max gave Angel a hug, and hurried off, her head down, as usual. I was pretty curious as to why she did that. Hopefully, I would find out tonight.

Third period was Spanish, and since it was still the first week of school, the teacher was just having us talk to each other- en español. So i sat next to Max and said," ¿Vas a mi casa en la noche? " (Are you coming to my house tonight?), I asked her, hoping I was saying it correctly.

"Yo quiero, pero yo no sé dónde está tu casa."(I want to, but i don't know where your house is."), She replied, much more up to date on her Spanish than i was.

"Voy a mostrar tú."(I am going to show you.) I smiled. So did she. It made me happy to see her like that. I couldn't explain why. It just did. The rest of the class was spent reviewing. She wanted to, and I had nothing better to do. I quizzed her, and she quizzed me. We seriously went over every unit ever studied in a Spanish class.

But when we got to family members (we were really running out of stuff to go over), her smile disappeared, and her head sank back down, to stare at the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, truly worried.

"Yeah. I'm fine." But she wasn't fine. For the rest of the day, she remained gloomy, and quite interested in the carpet. When the final bell rung, I followed her out the door, making sure she didn't see me. Instead of going to the students' parking lot, she headed in the opposite direction- to the woods. Once she reached the trees, she started running. It was hard as heck to keep up with her without making any noise. She didn't stop until she reached the river- the Chattahoochee. Slowly, she lowered her backpack to the ground.

What the heck was she doing? I thought. Even in the summer, the Chattahoochee was cold enough to cut off your circulation if you stayed in too long. Then I noticed her walking slowly towards a tree that had a limb hanging out over the river. She began to climb. I wanted to stop her, but I stayed hidden behind her, knowing that if I startled her, she might fall.

Almost inhumanly fast, she was crouched on the limb over the river. She rose…

"Max! No! Don't do it!" I yelled. She lost her balance, and began to wobble. "Max! Hang on!" I was officially an idiot. She fell, and plummeted to the water below. I ran to the river bank. And carefully began to climb down towards the water. Stepping out onto a large rock, I held out my hand, and called for Max to swim to me, which she did. I grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her out of the water. I held her close to me as she shivered roughly. She was soaked to the bone with icy water.

When the massive shivers subsided to little quakes, I led her back to school to bring her home. In my car, I turned the heat up all the way in an attempt to keep her from shaking my entire car.

"Where do you live?" I asked her, intending on taking her home so she could change, or shower, or do whatever else girls did before they went to a guys' house.

"Even if I told you it wouldn't matter." She replied solemnly.

"Why not?" That was weird.

"I can't go back there." Her voice implied that I shouldn't question the matter any further.

"Okay. I'll just take you to my house, and you can hang there until everyone else gets here tonight." Then I decided to be a little brave. So I asked her, "Why did you do that? And don't you dare try to tell me it was PMS, because I won't buy it."

"It's… Nothing. Just don't worry about it."

"Please Max? This seems kind of serious."

"Not here. Later."

"Okay," I sighed, not satisfied in the least.

My house was empty when we got there. I was an only child, and both of my parents worked late. Because it was Friday, they would probably go out tonight as well, leaving my friends and me alone practically all night, which usually wasn't a problem, but I wasn't sure that night. What with Max and-

Forget I said that. I didn't mean it, or at least I didn't think so-

Okay. I give up. Forget that too.

Moving on.

Once inside, I led Max up the stairs to my room. From the moment she walked through the door, she had been looking around, incredulous. But I decided to dismiss that, and rummaged through my drawers for a t-shirt and shorts that were too small. When I did find some (it took quite a while), I tossed them to her and showed her to the bathroom.

"Here. Towels are under the sink. I'll be downstairs."

Turns out, I was downstairs for an extremely long time. I knew girls could take a while to get dressed, but there's nothing complicated about a t-shirt and shorts. Eventually, I went back up stairs to make sure she was okay. You know, hadn't choked herself with a towel or anything of that absurd nature.

Outside of the bathroom, I heard no noise, so I knocked,

"Max? Are you okay?"

"Uhh, yeah. I'm fine."

"Then open the door. Come on." She hesitated, and then I heard her slowly stand up, and start to twist the doorknob. She hesitated yet again, and slowly opened the door. What I saw literally shocked me, and can take a lot to do that to me. I saw Max, still Max, but what I could see of her arms and legs were covered in purple and blue bruises. _Covered. Literally._ She hung her head, ashamed.

Max POV

I was _so_ embarrassed. I had never let anyone see me like this. They wouldn't understand. But Fang seemed to, and that was kind of why I trusted him already. He pulled me gently towards him, embracing me. I didn't exactly hug him back; I just stood there and kind of leaned against him. I noticed how rock hard his chest was- you didn't just read that. It never happened.

"Max, tell me." He practically whispered in my ear.

"Okay," I muttered in reply, really struggling not to cry. We walked back to his room, and sat down on his bed (don't be getting any ideas there, perverts).

"Who did it?" he asked me, simply.

"My dad Jeb Batchelder. He divorced my mom a month ago in Arizona, and brought me when he moved here, but left my sister Ella with my mom Valencia Martinez. Ever since we got here, he's been doing, w ell, this to me." I motioned to my bruised arm. "He gets drunk a lot, and then he just goes crazy. I'm afraid to go home, Fang. That's not right. I don't think I'll last much longer." With that, I burst into tears. Not big, loud sobs or anything; just silent tears, and shaking. He held me closer, comforting me.

"Hold on a minute. Did you say your dad is Jeb Batchelder?"He asked, wiping a tear from my cheek.

"Yeah. I did." I said, slightly confused. How could Fang know who Jeb was? This wasn't making sense.

"That's not possible." He seemed just as confused as I was.

"How so?" Now it made even less sense than it had before.

"Jeb Batchelder is a scientist, working in a hidden facility in California. He left eighteen years ago, but he went back a month ago." This was making less sense by the minute. Jeb was at home, probably betting drunk or something.

"What's your birthday, Max?" He was thinking: trying to put something together in his head.

"September seventeenth, 1992."

"That's the day he left. When did he divorce your mom?"

"July tenth. 2010."

"That's the day he came back. This can't be a coincidence, Max. Has Jeb been acting different since you moved here?" He was on to something.

"Yes. He would never do anything like this before. I don't think he even drank." He was right. This couldn't be coincidental.

"They tried to clone him, Max. But something went wrong in his brain. He doesn't think straight." This all made sense, but how did know all of this?

"How do you even know about any of this stuff? I mean, it makes sense and all, but I'm not sure where you got all of this information. It's unreal.

"That is what we were all going to explain to you tonight. Can you just wait until then?"

"Yeah. I think so." With that said, something else unexpected happened. He kissed me. He kissed me right smack on my freaking lips.

At first I pulled away, but he said, "It's okay. You can trust me."

Somehow, that was enough to reinsure me. I had never kissed anyone before (though I do agree that 17 is a little old for a first kiss), but somehow, I knew what to do. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was amazing. First it was the kiss, then the tongue, then some other things I can't even describe. Somehow, his arms were around me. We were moving- in perfect synch. My hands were deeply entangled in his long hair. And his on my back, holding me close to him.

When my shirt was halfway up my abdomen, I pulled away reluctantly.

"Fang," I whispered. "I don't know if I can."

"It's okay. I'm sorry"

"Don't be. It's just"-

"FANG! You up there?" It was Nudge. At first I thought she was early, but a glance at fangs alarm clock declared that it was 6:35. Fang had planned on 6:30.

"Oh crud." Fang muttered under his breath. "YEAH! Be down in a minute!"

"Max? Are you okay with…?" He gestured to my bruises.

"Yeah. They deserve to know." I decided. It would be hard, but my life would be so much easier with people who knew what I was dealing with, and that could help me. I hadn't known them for very long, but I wanted to just get it over with.

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**So? what did ya think? R&R! (thats a command) i wont update till i get at least 10 more reviews, and that doesn't mean send me 10 reviews(if ur not a math person, i'm thinkin 35-40 including the ones i've already gotten) from the same people, different people. so, once again, R&R!**

**I've also noticed that a lot of ya'll hve subscribed to this story, or added it to your favorites. if you like it that much, just leave a review saying so, for petes sake! and if you are not one of those people, then leave a review telling me why. This ain't that hard people. it takes like 2 seconds. thx! **


	6. Chapter 6

** Well, ya'll didn't exactly give the reviews i asked for, but i'm updating anyways. But this time, i mean it. I won't update again until i have a total of 50 reviews. Even if it only says, "good job" i'll except it. See that number up there? last time i checked, it said 33. so you people better get readin if you want there to be a chter 7. **

**In this chapter, all of your questions will be answered(well, most of them). Enjoy!**

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Fang practically dragged out of his room and down the stairs to the living room. I could hear them talking and laughing, but the moment we entered, there was a deadly silence. I tried to put myself behind him, remembering my arms and legs, covered in disgusting bruises and scars. With my head down, I followed Fang to an empty couch, and sat down next to him. He put his arm around me comfortingly. He whispered in my ear, "Do you still want to tell them?" I nodded.

The silence was then interrupted by Nudge. "I don't mean to sound rude, Max, but what the heck happened to you?" Wow Nudge. Way to not sound rude.

I responded anyways. "It's a long story."

Then Fang decided to take over for me. Thank goodness for him. But what he said surprised me as much as everyone else, if not more. "This is her guys: Maximum Ride- the one we've been looking for." Smiles broke out across the room. What the flip was he talking about? How long had they been looking for me? Why had they been looking for me? "When they captured her, three years ago, they erased her memory, and planted false ones in her head. She has absolutely no memory of us, or the school, or anything." What was he talking about? What was the school? Had I known them before? How had anyone erased my memory? The "fake" ones had seemed so real. But now I wasn't so sure. "For the past month, she has been living with a clone of Jeb, but the cloning process didn't work out to well. It doesn't think straight. That's how she got all of" he hesitated "this."

Fang POV

She was looking more and more confused with every word that escaped my lips. I wanted to help her, to comfort her. But I didn't have the slightest idea how.

"Max. Try to remember. We were kept at the school. We lived in dog crates. The real Jeb helped us escape, and took care of us. We rescued Angel when erasers captured her. You had a micro-chip in your arm, and Dr. Martinez removed it. We went to Antarctica. We traveled on a submarine. We could fly, Max. Can you not remember any of that?"

I tried to sound sincere. When I could think of nothing else of our past to remind her, I told her about the flock. "Angel. Angel read minds; controlled minds; breathed under water; talked to fish. Nudge hacked computers; felt remnants of emotion in objects; attracted metal. Gazzy and his stink clouds. Iggy feels colors, and in Antarctica he could see in the snow. I fade into the background, and as long as I'm still, no one knows I'm there. And you: you could fly faster than any of us. Think, Max, think."

Max POV

Right there, the flood of memories hit like a ton of bricks. Make that 'It hit me like 1000 tons of bricks.' I felt a tingling sensation in my back, and then the softness of feathers. With a single will of my thoughts, my wings were spread out behind me. Fourteen feet of beautiful, powerful wings, attached to me. No, _part_ of me. I stood, and moved them around a bit. Then, experimenting, I willed them away. They folded up, and then completely disappeared from existence. But I could make them appear again.

Fang stood up; sixteen feet of dark, graceful feathers extending from him. Iggy, somehow sensing what was happening, did the same. Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy followed. With everyone's wings extended, there was no space left in the room. I was overflowing with excitement. I was back. After three years of being trapped at the school alone, I was back.

I remembered everything now, but mostly I remembered Fang. I understood now why he hadn't been afraid to move fast. It was almost like I never left.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Happy tears. I could see everyone staring at me intently, waiting. "I missed you guys." Then all wings were tucked in, and I was the center of one big, flock-sized hug. "Well, we haven't done this together in three years" I announced, sticking out my left fist. Everyone joined the stack, and tapped with our right hands. The simple motion was so familiar, I felt as though I had never been taken away: as though the last three years had never happened.

Then, the strangest thing happened; something I never would have expected. Angel, Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy began to change. They changed back to the ages they should have been. Angel was ten, Gazzy was eight, Nudge was fifteen, and Iggy was sixteen. Everything was normal again, exactly how it should be.

"Hold the phone." Nudge declared. "How are we going to go back to school like this? And what about our fake parents?" She had a point there.

"We go to my mom." I decided. "She's pretty used to us showing up randomly. She won't mind."

"Let's go tomorrow. I'm hungry." Nude complained.

"I'll order some pizzas." Fang came to the rescue.

We each got our own, just like that time back with my mom. Only that time, our pizza blew up. When I shared that memory, everyone laughed. It was the first in a long line of reminiscing, and more laughing, and sending Gazzy into various different rooms. It was the best time I had had in three, long years, and I enjoyed it. We were all relieved to be back together, as the flock, just like old times. It wasn't until around three in the morning, after two movies, and when we were all fresh out of laughs, when everyone left. Fangs fake parents had come home, and convinced us that we should.

"Max, do you need a ride home?" His mother offered me.

"No. That's oka"-

"Mom, can I talk to you for a minute." Fang took her into another room and closed the door behind him. I heard whispering, and a few gasps. Finally, the door opened.

"Why don't you stay in our guestroom tonight, dear?" She suggested. How much had Fang told her?

"It's fine. You don't have to do that." I really didn't want to put her under the stress of having me around, even though it was only for one night.

"I insist. You'll be much better off here. Fang? Why don't you go and show her where it is." That ended the matter, and next thing I knew, I was following Fang up the stairs, and into the room right next to his.

"I missed you, Max."

"Someone got a visit from the talking fairy this morning," I laughed.

"Really, I did,"

"Okay, fine. I missed you too." I replied, kind of getting where this was going. He started to walk towards me, and I moved towards him. The slow walking became fast, and the next thing I knew, I was in his arms, he was in mine. His mouth was on mine, and vice-versa. He had one hand around my waist, and one the back of my head. Both if mine were hopelessly entangled in his dark hair. Subconsciously, we were moving back towards the guest bed.

When I hit it, we both fell backwards. He landed on top of me, but the kiss never broke. If anything, it deepened. Our bodies were moving together, as well as our lips, and tongues. I remembered all of the times I had run away from him, and deeply regretted each one. Like before, I found my shirt slowly snaking its way up my abdomen. It reached my bellybutton, then my waist, and my ribs, and I pulled away.

"Fang, I"-

"It's okay." He silently understood. I nestled my head into his chest, and closed my eyes. I really wouldn't mind sleeping like this.

"Why did this have to happen to us Fang?" He said nothing. Ahh. Back to the normal, quiet Fang. "We're all reunited, and happy again, and then, boom, we have to leave. On the run. I can't even count how many times this has happened. I just wish we could take some time, and be normal; like back when Jeb was taking care of us. Other than right now, that was the best part of my life."

"Well maybe this keeps happening, because we wouldn't have it any other way?"

_Think about that Max. What would your life be like if you did have it another way?_

Boring, I guess. I responded mentally to the ever intruding voice. I had almost forgotten about that.

"It would have no excitement. We wouldn't be half the people that we are. It would just be boring."Fang continued. "I love you, Max, and I wouldn't have you, or my life any other way."

Now I was the one left without a response. I thought for a minute, and half spoke, half whispered, "I love you too

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**Ooooooohhhhh. Nice ending, ya think? Wy don't you leave a review letting me know. Or just leave a review saying anything. literally, it can say freaking anything, as long as its related to the story. I just want some reviews. REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! I mean it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay so i have some things to clear up with you guys. numero uno: In this fanfic, the whole flock can kame their wings disappear. I just thought that would be cooler. numero dos: When i say Maxes shirt is sliding up, that is a result of motion. When you 're moving/wiggling a lot, that happens. Well, enjoy chapter 7. It's kinda short, so suck it up and deal with it ;)**

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I pitied every human in the entire freaking world as I launched myself from the ground in Fangs backyard. It was the most amazing feeling. After three years of being trapped on the ground, the wide open sky welcomed me with open arms as I invited myself into it.

I felt so free, so careless, that I almost forgot the situation at hand. I was synched roughly from my thoughts as five other bird-kid mutants joined in around me.

We were all back together, flying. I missed that so much. Those three years back at the school, I hadn't even realized where I was, or where I wasn't. But now… I don't even know what to say.

Down below us was all farmland at this point, so I decided to have a little fun. I leaned forward until I was flying face-first towards the ground. I tucked my wings in all the way, dive-bombing at light speed. About fifty feet from the ground, I extended the very tips of my wings, guiding and slowing my fall. Ten feet from the ground, I whipped myself upward, and using my "light speed", I was back among the flock within seconds.

I looked around me, at the clouds, the fields below, but mostly my family. The mid-day sun illuminated their every feature, and realized how much I actually appreciated them. I remembered something Jeb had taught us. A saying, "You never know what you have until you lose it." I had never taken that very seriously, only because I had had no reason to think about it, but I understood it now.

Okay, enough with the mushy family stuff.

I had estimated three days to get to Arizona, counting in food stops (a lot of them), and finding places to stay. Before we left, we had managed to dig up about a hundred dollars between the six of us, so we would have about enough for some cheap fast food, and maybe even a cheap hotel one night.

The rest of that day was the usual, boring same old same old. Fly until someone complains of hunger, stop for lunch, fly some more, stop for dinner. For dinner, we found a small town out in the middle of nowhere, Mississippi, and then proceeded to find some trees to sleep in. I planned on finding a hotel the next night, so we could shower and what not, and actually look we hadn't been flying for three days straight. Weird for us, I know, but I hadn't actually seen my mom in a while, so I wanted to be able to hug her without sentencing her to thirty minutes in the shower.

When we finally found a place (it took a while. We were three years out of practice), it was some fairly large trees that branches barely wide enough sleep on. It would have to do.

It was pretty much a big family reunion when we all got settled. We had nothing to run away from, nothing to look out for, and we were all happy. Well, except for Iggy, who chose to sleep right under The Gasman. It was a pretty long night for him. As I leaned against my tree trunk, just about to nod off, I saw Fang, his eyes intent on me, almost smiling. I gave him a real smile in return. He closed his eyes. I followed. I saw a lot of him that night, in the very center of my subconscious. Let's just say it was a very good dream. In it, I would say I was about a year or two older. There was happiness, love, and-gasp- a ring on my finger.

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**I must say, i love my endings, just leaving y'all staring at computer screen, thinking about what a butt i am for leaving you hanging like that. So if you want me to rescue from that cliff i just left you dangling off of there, i need to have a total of 65 reviews. Yeah. I've upped my standards a bit. I want to have a hundred after chapter 8, so... R&RRRRRRRRRRR!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So wasup? Enjoying this story. I Hope so. Well, enjoy.**

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I woke with a start. _A ring on my finger. A ring. A ring. On my finger- wait Max. No, no, no. _Ignore it. Focus on the matter at hand: breakfast.

"Alright everybody! Up and at'em! Let's go people!" I was followed by a loud chorus of groans and muttering. Oh well. They were just gonna have to deal with it.

"Ya know, I kinda preferred Max _before_ she got her memory back."

"Shut up, Iggy." The little jerk. "Okay, so, breakfast. What do we got? Anybody bring food? Those backpacks look a little suspicious." Hm. I guess a few years at the school could really mess with a sense of humor.

So, anyways, we ate what we could find, which consisted mostly of wimpy granola bars and crackers, but at least it was something. And, within minutes, I was back to pitying the humans, and there condition of being stuck on the ground. I wondered if they had been jealous of us, watching our air shows, even reading Fang's blog. They must have been. Who wouldn't? How did Ella feel?

And, of course, as always, my very meaningful thoughts were interrupted. "Max, I'm getting hungry." Nudge, of course. Lunch time.

"Can you hold on a little while? This isn't exactly the best place to stop." Down below us was nothing but plain, barren desert. "We'll stop in Dallas. It's not too far." I slightly altered our course more to the south. If we kept at it fast, we would reach Dallas within an hour.

"Guys! There it is!" Finally, I approached my home. It seems like a million years ago, the last time I had been there. Actually, I wasn't even positive she had gone back to Arizona, after traveling with the CSM so much.

I began the descent; well in this case, it was more of a dive- bomb. What can I say? I was excited.

It wasn't until we landed in the front yard that I realized how late it was. The house would be locked. Great; just great.

"Hey Max." Iggy. "If you plan on us sneaking through a window, can I crash into it like in the movies? Gives us an excuse for waking them up." Wow. I guess we were really desperate for some fun, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

No Iggy. Unless you want to come off as a freaking idiot- oh wait. You _are _a freaking idiot. Too late."

"Funny; very funny."

"I know, right?" Couldn't he take a joke?

So I just went ahead to the living room window, knowing they would follow me. "Ig! Get up here, and open the window."

"I didn't think an idiot would be smart enough to do that," he retorted, somehow looking me directly in the face as he effortlessly opened the window without leaving a scratch or making a noise. How does a blind dude do that? Well I guess I can add that to the list of The Things about Life I Will Never Know.

Once inside, we decided to crash in the living room and just let them be surprised when they woke up. But, hopefully, they would find it as a good surprise.

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**Yeah i know that was a bit of a filler, but it was necesary to the plot that i am making up as i go along. I also had a bit of writers block, but i already have the next chapter entirely planned out- mostly. Well. If you want anymore, i need a whopping total of 100 reviews. So get going. R&RRRRRRRRRRR(notice how many times i repeated review). Thanks!(if i don't have 100 reviews, i might take that back).**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys. I was kinda joking when i said 100 reviews. so here's chapter 9! Yay! i know chapter 8 was a filler, but this one is waaayyyy better. Thanks to all my reviewers. keep reviewing. Just know this. the more reviews i get, the faster i write and post. I have BIG plans coming up.**

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… _A ring on my finger… A simple white dress… Rice stuck in my hair-_

"Max! Wake up!" someone whisper-yelled in my ear. I fell off of the couch I had been sleeping on.

"What do you want, Ella?" I grumbled. Ella? So mom was going to let us stay for a while.

"Shh. Everyone else is still asleep. Mom wants to talk to you and Fang."

"Okay. Why just us?" That was weird. Did she like, think I was pregnant or something? No. I wasn't that stupid. I did have some morals (If you don't believe me on that. I can't blame you). So I got myself up off the floor, and Ella woke up Fang. Then we went into the kitchen where Mom was waiting. Without thinking, I sat down across from her at the table. Fang stood behind me.

"So I see you got your memory back."

"Well, yeah." Awkward.

"And everyone else is back to normal as well.

"Uhuh." Wow; what a great conversation.

"You need to stop relying on me, Max. As far as we know, Itex is gone, so you have no reason _not_ to live like a normal person. You and the flock need to get some money, and find a place of your own. You are 18 years old Maximum. Do you know what that means?"

"Uuhhh, should I?"

"You are no longer a minor, and you need to start taking responsibility for yourself. You can't just rely on everyone else."

My stomach grumbled loudly. I needed breakfast, but she continued. "I will provide for you until your nineteenth birthday. After that, you're on your own. I'm sorry. I love you Max, but you are an adult, and you need to act like one."

"Okay, mom: I understand, but how are we supposed to know when my nineteenth birthday is?" Seriously; what was she? Crazy?

"I found this."She handed me a sheet of paper. It appeared as though it used to be fancy. It had a fancy border, and a few signatures. But it was now covered in coffee stains, and wrinkles. I looked closer. There were names. I saw Valencia Martinez, Jeb Batchelder, and one other: Catherine Valencia Martinez. Was that me? Born July 17th, 1991. That was almost exactly nineteen years ago.

"What's today's date?" I asked no one in particular.

"July tenth, 2010."

"So you are giving _one week_ to find a job _and_ a place to live. That's practically impossible." There was no way on earth I would be able to do that. No freaking way. Then Fang decided to say something- finally.

"The rest of the flock and I have had bank accounts for three years. We can probably scrape up something." Yeah, if you count three years worth of birthday money from "adoptive" parents, maybe we could buy an empty room. "Some of us had jobs, so there's a pretty decent amount of money, and Nudge's parents were pretty rich. She probably got a lot from them…" He trailed off.

Okay, so maybe an apartment. This could actually work. "So we get an apartment; Fang, Iggy, I get jobs; and what, do we just make the rest of them go to school?"

"Precisely, Max. You see, it won't be too hard. Just start researching. I know you'll find a way to make it work. You always do."

"Thanks Mom." I mumbled. I still didn't see how this was going to work. The only thing running through my head was breakfast. So I rose from my chair, and made a beeline for the pantry.

(Bar/marker/thingy)

"Fang! Get your butt up here!" I yelled down the stairs. I was on that awesome laptop that Fang had somehow managed to hang on to all of this time looking for apartments. I had gotten Nudge to hack into everyone's bank account to see how much money we had. The strange thing was: Fang's was practically empty- compared to everyone else's. He had 150 dollars.

Finally, he walked into the room. "What's up?" You would think, after getting yelled at by me, you would be in a little bit more of a hurry. Well, that's just me.

"Why is your bank account practically empty? Iggy has over 5,000, and everyone else has at least 2,000. Ya'll must have been spoiled to death. So how is it that you only 150 bucks? I remember that house. Your parents weren't exactly poor, and you said you had a job."

"I have my reasons, okay. I'll make it up."At that point, Angel started laughing like a maniac, but she was trying to hide it. As a result, she ended up snorting like a hyped up pig. It was pretty hilarious, let me tall ya. "Angel…" Fang seemed to warn her. Was he hiding something from me? Whatever it was, I bet it had something to do with the money. I would make him pay… Later.

"Anyways, we have until the seventeenth to find an apartment, and jobs for me, Fang, and Iggy. Maybe Nudge if any places will accept a fifteen year old." With that, I turned back to the laptop, and started searching for apartments. One by one, everyone left the room. Eventually, it was just Fang and me. I left my searching, and turned to face him.

"What is it, Fang? You're hiding something from me. I can tell."

He was silent, staring at his bare feet. Slowly, he lifted his eyes, then his head. He stared into my eyes, no, past them- through them. He walked towards me, seemingly slow, but before I knew it, he was right in front of me. _Focus Max. You have important things to discuss right now. You can always make out later… It's okay Max. You know you want this. You have all week to do your research._ I chose the latter. I snaked my arms around his neck, my hands into his hair. He leaned his head forward, and wrapped his arms around me. His lips met mine, for the first time in days. Somehow, my back was pressed against the wall. You've heard the saying, 'like you've never been kissed before." This was like that. This was beyond that. I let his tongue explore my mouth, and vice-versa.

He was moving backwards, I followed him. Then we were on my bed. His shirt was on the floor, as was mine. And this is the point where I realize that there are many pervs reading this, use you own, perversely creative imaginations to write the next paragraph

(Insert paragraph here)

I fell asleep with my head against rested against Fang's bare chest; our clothes on the floor; sheets hopelessly tangled. I drifted off into the welcoming arms of sleep- and Fang- more Fang. My dreams were different this time.

_I was back at the school, as a baby- or a toddler. I looked so hopeless. My wings were tiny, fluffy, and useless. My hair was dirty, as was my face, and the rest of me. I was in my crate, holding onto the bars, pressing my face against them. A door opened, and I crawled backwards, pressing my weak self against the back of the crate. A white coat entered the room, holding another helpless figure. Black hair, olive skin. The white coat roughly placed him into the crate next to me…_

"Max." Someone shook my shoulders gently. I opened my eyes to find Fang. It wasn't one of those things where at first you remember, and then it all "comes rushing back to you." I remembered, clear as day, everything that had happened last night. I sat up, and gave Fang a quick kiss, before leaning over the edge of the bed to pick up my clothes. Fang was already dressed; he just lay there as I slipped on my jeans, and t-shirt.

I sat down next to him. "You better watch your thoughts today. I don't want to scar Angel for life." I laughed; he just smiled, and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

He rose; I followed. His arm around my shoulder, we walked downstairs. I had expected to stop in the kitchen for breakfast, but he led me to the back door.

"Fang, where are we-"

"Shh. Just hold on a minute." What the heck was he doing?

I followed him anyways. Once outside, he spread his wings, and took off. I followed. He flew silently for some fifteen minutes. Then the terrain started to look familiar. There was a lake, and a high cliff; hawks. We were at Lake Mead. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but I didn't question him.

He banked, slowly and gracefully, towards an all too familiar indentation in the cliff. _The northern-most point of Lake Mead._ Was he leaving again? No- he wouldn't. He landed easily on the ledge that seemed so much smaller now. He took a step back, and reached into his pocket, and knelt to one knee. Oh. My. Gosh. Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh.

"Catherine Valencia Martinez-" He used my real name. It seemed so foreign.

"Maximum Ride, Will you marry me?"

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**So? review. tell me watcha think. I know you expected that, but not the way i made it happen. Everyone loves emotional proposals. a good FAX story has gotta have one. You know what to do(i hope) R&RRRRRRRRRR(lots of reviews)**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is kind of short, but i'm trying to finish up so i can start posting one on my other stories on fictionpress. I don't want to do 2 at once because it would take twice as long to update. Watch out for them. They will be under romance or adventure. One is "To the Waters" and the other is "Dance With Me." Neither have been posted yet, and i'm not sure which one will come first. they'll be under the same penname as this one. so keep an eye out.**

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"Maximum Ride; Will you marry me?"

I was shocked. There is no other way to describe that moment. He pulled out of his pocket a small, navy blue box. He popped it open to reveal a ring. It was fairly simple, but-this will sound strange coming from me- it was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen, Yes: I did say it was beautiful. It had a thin gold band, and a small array of three diamonds: one slightly small, with a tiny one on either side.

Plastered across his face was a smile so unFang-like, that it wasn't even funny.

"Yes." I attempted to say, but it came out sort of choked, as I held back tears. He rose to his feet, took my left hand, and slipped the ring onto my finger.

"Do you know why it goes on you left hand?" He asked me. I could tell he already knew the answer.

"Why?"

"Because the vein in the left ring finger travels directly to your heart."**(A/n that **_**is**_** true)** With that said, he kissed me. It was gentle this time, and quickly interrupted by my stomach growling. Loudly. "Let's go."

We took off over the lake. He synchronized the motions of his wing with mine so he could come to fly directly above me, so close that he could have reached down to touch my head if he wanted.

"So that's where all of your money went to." He was silent. In Fang language, that was a yes. "How long ago did you buy it?"

"The first day I saw you at that school." Wow.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Besides Angel? No."

"Not even my mom?"

"No. I knew she would approve."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Well, technically, she can't say no. You're 18."

"She's my mom. I don't want to disappoint her." He had no response to that. No surprise there.

We touched down into the backyard, and crept back in through the back door. Hoping no one would notice our absence, I joined everyone else in the kitchen.

"Max! Fang! Where have you been?" Mom- of course. Smiling uncontrollably, I held up my hand to show the ring. Immediately, I was tackled/hugged by a squealing Nudge.

"Oh my gosh Max I just knew this was going to happen and I'm just so happy for you and I guess that's where all Fang's bank money went on such a beautiful ring and this is so happy and I still can't believe it and oh my gosh when can we have a wedding cuz I can totally plan It for you if you want and you need a dress Fang is gonna look so funny in a tux no offense or anything Fang but you'll have to wear white and Max is going to look so pretty in her dress it has to be super fancy and pretty and"-

Iggy's hand over Nudge's mouth saved our eardrums just then.

"Yeah, Fnick I just can't wait to see you wearing a tux." Iggy laughed, and high- fived Gazzy. They were probably planning some kind bomb related destruction of my wedding. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was actually really looking forward to the thought of a wedding. And on top of that, I still needed to find a house/apartment and a job.

This was the start of a new life for me. It was different, but good- different.

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**Hate to break it to ya, but this is almost the end. just a few epilogue chapters, and it will be over. everybody say "aaaaaawwwwwwwww" so sad. well R&RRRRRRRRRRR! please please please. first one get a virtual Fang cake. haha hundredth get 20 fang cookies. you know you want them. **


	11. Epilogue 1

**So... epilogue numero uno. so sad. but by next week, i'll have started posting one of my fictionpress stories. and the fang cake goes to... Madame roses!**

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"Max! Come on! It's time to go!" Nudge yelled at me from the bottom of the stairs. Today was-drum roll- MOVING DAY! Finally. My mom had given me an extra two weeks because of wedding preparations and stuff. I had found a job as a waitress at a nearby restaurant, so with all of the flock's bank money and two weeks' worth of tips; we had scrounged up enough to buy a decent apartment. It had three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, one half bathroom, and a conjoined kitchen/dining room/living room. It was, for the most part, pre-furnished, so we didn't have to move too much stuff.

Zipping up my suitcase, I dashed down the stairs. None of the flock could drive-there was no need. Hello. Wings- so mom would be taking us. It was pretty close by, so I could visit Ella every so often. She and Nudge had become pretty good friends over the years.

Fang was waiting for me at the door. He put his arm around me, and we walked out to the car together. At first, the thought of being engaged was a little strange to both of us, but now, I couldn't be happier.

When the car finally stopped moving, I literally jumped out. Max + small car= NOT GOOD! I was nervous, approaching the door. I had been there many times before, but knowing that this was where I would be living was so different.

Slowly, I opened the door. It seemed better and more perfect than ever. Until I was practically bowled over by Gazzy, running to claim the best bed in the boys' room. We had divided so that Fang and I got the master bedroom, Iggy and Gazzy got one room, and Nudge and Angel got the other. Ella followed Iggy (wink wink). They seemed to have gotten rather friendly. I, personally, thought they were adorable.

"Ella! Come on. We need to go now." Ella emerged from the boys' room pink in the face trying to disguise a smile. It wasn't working. I would so tease her for this. That is, after we got totally moved in, and married, and Fang got a job, and all the other junk we were dealing with.

So I just stood at the door, buried in thought. I was happy, but so confused. And, strangely, I was enjoying every bit of it.

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**I hope you enjoyed. Only one chapter left- the wedding. Can't wait! R&RRRRRRRRRRRR(ten fang cookies arestill up for grabs).**


	12. epilogue 2

** Hey guys(well, mostly gals, but whatever).! So i know it's been super uber long, and i'm so sorry for making ya'll wait, but i really wanted this to be a good one, And i have a little surprise in the a/n at the end, so don't skip it in your mad rush to leave me a review(wink wink). Anyways, enjoy!**

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"Seriously, Nudge? We have five hours until the wedding. Does it really take _that_ long to get ready?" I had thought that all I would have to do would be to put on the dress, and maybe a bit of make-up. But boy was I wrong. Five hours to wait, and she had me locked in my own bathroom, with so much stuff you couldn't even see the counter. It was _in-sane_.

"Yes we do need every minute of this time. You would have been in here an hour ago if I had my way, so just go wash your hair, and be quick about it. Please." Well, I decided to go ahead and get it over with. According to Nudge, Fang wasn't allowed to see me in my dress until I walked down the aisle. I didn't like it, but there is _no_ arguing Nudge. So I decided to suck it up and deal with it, which was something I had gotten pretty good at over the years.

When I finished, I was promptly shoved into a big, fluffy bathrobe. And before I knew it, I was in a chair with my hair being blow-dried. This was going a lot easier than I had expected, with Nudge doing all of the work. I just had to sit there. Then I noticed something strange. I'm no stylist, but I was pretty sure it wasn't right.

"Nudge? Why is the blow-dryer blowing _cold_ air?"

"I don't want to over-dry it when I put the curlers in." She replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh." I didn't want to get her going on some rant about burnt out hair or whatever. I was getting enough torture already.

So for the next hour I sat there in that chair getting jabbed in the head by tons of tiny rollers. Fun…. Not!

Next was (shudder) make-up. First, she held up various bottles next to my face and muttered stuff about "too light" and "too dark." Finally, she decided on one, and started smearing goop all over my face. It felt disgusting. Then she blew on it. "Geez Nudge! What the heck are you doing to my face?"

"Drying the foundation!" Oh. So that's what it was.

She finished with that pretty quickly, and then came at me with this black pencil thingy. Eyeliner?

"Okay. Close your eyes, and raise you eyebrows." Then she started freaking drawing on my eyelids. And it was not exactly painless, let me tell ya. "Max, stop moving so much."

"Sorry." I couldn't understand why someone would put themselves through this on a daily basis.

Anyway, after that, she put some more black gooey stuff on me eyelashes. Mascara? Then I sat for about an hour while she did the rest of my make-up. She was such a perfectionist about it though.

So I am going to skip through the nasty details of the next three and a half hours, and move on to the only part I wasn't totally dreading: the dress.

"Can I look in the mirror now?" I practically begged Nudge. I was dying to see what a face would look like covered in various goops, powders, and pencil type stuff.

"No. Not until you're all done. I still have to get the dress out, but I don't trust you in here. Smart girl. Never trust Max in a room alone with curiosity weighing two tons on her shoulders. "Ella! Bring in the dress!" She called, and immediately I could hear various people rushing around outside the door until eventually it was opened just wide enough to fit the dress through. Carefully, Nudge removed the blue cover thingy.

I really hate to say this, but that dress was the freaking most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I loved it. It was mostly white, but there were some odd color streaks in it, and it was strapless, with a weird looking design in the back.

"Um, Nudge? Are my … wings going to show?" Had she finally gone crazy? She didn't have to do that. Our wings could just disappear if we wanted them to.

"Surprise!" She squealed. "The world already knows about us remember! And, it will just look beautiful. Fangs will be showing too so you won't be the only one and we will all have ours out so it'll just be really cool and I wanted to surprise you and everyone else already knew and they were looking forward to it so it's too to change it now oh my gosh Max I hope you don't mind…" She trailed off because she could no longer breathe because of how tight I was hugging her.

"Okay, can I just put it on now?" I slipped into it, and had Nudge carefully fasten the back under and around my wings. It felt kind of weird, but I could live with it.

"Okay. Look in the mirror." She instructed me. I slowly turned around, nervous. I had never seen myself like this before. Heck, I hadn't even worn a dress since total and Akila's wedding. But then I saw myself, and all of that worry disappeared. I was beautiful, and somehow, the wings only added to that. But then the effect was mostly ruined by the appearance of curlers in my hair.

"Uhh, Nudge? When can we take these, uh, things, out of my hair? They're kind of annoying. No- make that _really_ annoying." I swear there had to be scars in my scalp from these things jabbing me.

"In just a minute, hold on." She laughed. I slumped back into the chair, feeling hopeless. "Close your eyes." _What? _I did anyways, only to find myself being sprayed with who knows what.

By this point, I had run out of complaints, so I just sat there silently- so unlike me. It was worth it, though, because five minutes, my pain was relieved.

"Can I go now?" I pleaded.

"Yes. We're done." FINALLY!

"Wait." I was completely confused. What about shoes? She didn't have some completely ridiculous heels waiting for me, did she?

"Surprise again: you're going barefoot. We're all going barefoot. I thought it would be more. interesting, you know, since the ceremony will be outside." Right. I had forgotten about that little detail.

* * *

**Yeah i bet you didn't see that coming. That's right. ONE MORE CHAPPIE! I'll to post it way quicker than i posted this one, but no promises. Also, i will try to start posting "Dance with Me" on fictionpress by next week, so look for that, It'll be epic. Well. R&R(that is a command)**


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